18XX

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18XX is the generic term for a series of board games which, with a few exceptions, recreate the building of railroad corporations during the 19th century; individual games within the series use particular years in the 19th century as their title (usually the date of the start of railway development in the area of the world they cover). The games 2038, set in the future, and Ur, 1830 BC, set in ancient history, are also regarded as 18XX titles as their game mechanics and titling nomenclature are similar despite variance from the common railroad/stock-market theme.

The 18XX series has its origins in the game 1829 first produced by Francis Tresham in the mid 1970's. 1829 was chosen as it was the year of the Rainhill Trials.

With the exception of 2038, 18XX games are distinctive in that they represent a rarity: multiplayer board games without random variables.

1 Gameplay
- 1.1 Common features
- 1.2 Differences
2 List of published titles in the series
3 Related information
4 External links

[edit] Gameplay

[edit] Common features

18XX games vary, but most follow this general pattern:

The objective is to enhance personal wealth, not the assets of any companies a player may be operating. Personal wealth consists of cash, company stock (which increases wealth both by receiving dividends and by capital appreciation), and other investments (such as private companies).
Players don't directly interact with the game board, but do so indirectly through companies they control. Generally, the player who owns the most stock of a company is the president of that company and makes all decisions on behalf of that company. Usually, the president is also required to help fund the company when it lacks sufficient funds to pay a required expenditure (such as a train).
Game play alternates between "stock rounds" and one or more "operating rounds". In a stock round, players buy and sell stock (some games have company actions during a stock round as well), while in an operating round players take actions on behalf of companies they control, including laying track, placing station tokens, operating trains, withholding income or paying dividends, and buying trains.
"Certificate limit" - There is usually a limit to how many corporate shares and private companies a player may own, in order to keep the game competitive by preventing snowball effects resulting from early leads by some players.
The "President's certificate" represents control of a railroad corporation, usually represents a greater percentage of corporate stock than other certificates (e.g., 20% as opposed to 10%), and is usually the first one purchased for a company (which its purchaser setting the price, or "par value", for regular shares of stock in many titles in the series). If another player accumulates more shares in a company that the current president, he acquires the President's certificate (with attendant side-effects for both players regarding certificate limits) in exchange for his own lesser shares, and becomes the new controller of the corporation.
Certain games may impose restrictions on the order in which companies may be started (generally to impose a historical context upon the game), and they vary in how many shares must be purchased before the company may operate ("floats").
The map is usually a hex grid that depicts cities and terrain features. Tiles are laid on top of this map to represent track development, and tokens are placed on the board to represent stations (as well as special abilities from private companies). Cities have values which can vary based on which tiles have been laid on the city, the phase of the game, or even which type of train is used to reach them. Different color tiles are available in succession, and in phases. These phases are typically determined by train purchases.
A company's stock price is adjusted based on the revenues earned and whether the president chose to pay dividends or to withhold the earnings in the company treasury. Stock prices are usually also affected by actions in the stock round, and some games have other mechanisms that affect the stock price.
Scarcity (forcing future-turn planning by players) of available corporations, train types and track tiles.
Trains become obsolete, and must be replaced by ever more expensive trains which also have greater capacity for earning revenue. Purchase of a new type of train usually triggers other events in the game, such as when older trains become obsolete, the availability of different sets of tiles, closure of private companies, etc.
Game end is usually determined when the bank runs out of money, and also by player bankruptcy (when a player cannot pay the debt of a company he controls). Some games do not end when a player goes bankrupt, while others add other conditions for ending the game such as when a stock reaches a certain value on the stock market. Other games do not feature bankruptcy at all, and enable a player to place a moribound company in "receivership" and walk away from debts.

[edit] Differences

A new 18XX game is usually different in significant ways from predecessors. A few games are produced which basically only change the names of the companies and the map on which the game is played, but those are less popular. As with games in general, each individual mechanic has probably been used before, but a new game can put together a set of mechanics which provide a new and interesting challenge. Some typical areas of difference are:

Initial Auction - there are many different ways to distribute the initial privates and corporations.
Private Companies - most 18XX games have private companies which are entirely owned by one player, and represent the earliest companies in the game or provide special abilities. Some games have very similar private companies, some have very different private companies, and some dispense with having private companies at all.
Corporation Funding - some games have full funding for a corporation as soon as it floats, while others have the company receiving money only as each share is sold. Some games require the corporation to reach a historically relevant destination in order to receive some of its capital.
Company Types - some games have multiple company types. These types may vary based on how many shares are available for purchase, the funding model for the company, the number of station tokens available, or which types of trains may be purchased by the company.
Corporate mergers and demergers - some games feature optional, or forced, mergers or splits of one or more companies.
Corporate stock-ownership - some games enable companies to hold their own stock, purchase private corporations, and/or own the stock of other companies (even to the point of owning or as prelude to merger).
Train Types - some games may offer multiple types of trains with distinct capabilities or lifetimes.
- Some trains may "degrade" into other train types upon certain events (for example, delayed obsolescence of 4-trains in 18MEX, or normal trains becoming H-trains in 1844).
- Trains may become available in unusual orders. For example, in 1830, Diesel engines are available as soon as the first 6-train is purchased — all the 6-trains are not required to be purchased first. In 1824, G-train availability is controlled by when normal trains are purchased.
- Certain trains may be restricted in terms of which locations they may run to or may count revenue from, or they may provide bonuses for running to certain locations. For example, in 1844, H-trains are prohibited from running to off-board locations. In 1854, only Orient Express trains may run to certain off-board areas. In 1889, Diesels get special bonuses for off-board locations. In 1826, E-trains and TGVs ignore dot-towns. TGVs in 1826 and 4D-trains in 18MEX double the value of cities they count. In 1824, only G-trains may run to mines and the corporation always gets the value of the mine rather than it being potentially paid to stockholders.
Theme - a few titles eschew the common railroad/stock-market theme. For example, 2038 involves space exploration of the asteroid belt, while Ur, 1830 BC involves building dams and canals in ancient Mesopotamia (in the latter game, "corporations", "presidents" and stock "shares" are represented by kingdoms, rulers and parcels of land).

The 18xx Rules Difference List provides a summary of differences between different games.

[edit] List of published titles in the series

1800 Colorado, published 2002 by David Methany in Rail Gamer #17, designed by Antonio Leal.
1824 Austria-Hungary, released 2005 by Double-O Games, designed by Lonny Orgler and Helmut Ohley.
1825 Great Britain, released 1995 (Unit 1) by Hartland Trefoil, 2000 (Unit 2) and 2004 (Unit 3) by Tresham Games, designed by Francis Tresham.
1826 France and Belgium, released 2000 by Chris Lawson, re-released in 2004 by Deep Thought Games, LLC, designed by David G.D. Hecht.
1829 (South) England, released 1974 by Hartland Trefoil, designed by Francis Tresham, started the series.
1829 (North) England, released 1981 by Hartland Trefoil, designed by Francis Tresham.
1829 Mainline England, released 2005 by Tresham Games, designed by Francis Tresham.
1830 Northeastern United States, released 1986, designed by Francis Tresham and Bruce Shelley, published by Avalon Hill.
1832 Southeastern United States, released 2006 by Deep Thought Games, LLC, designed by Bill Dixon.
1835 Germany, released 1990 by Hans im Glück, designed by Michael Meier-Bachl.
1837 Austria-Hungary, released and designed 1994 by Lonny Orgler
1837SX Saxony, self-published in 2003 by Wolfram Janich
1838 Rheinland, self-published in 2001 by Wolfram Janich
1841 Italy, released 1996 by Chris Lawson, designed by Federico Vellani. Updated version designed by Manlio Manzini, released 2006 by Deep Thought Games
1842 Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein, self-published in 1995 by Wolfram Janich
1844 Switzerland, released 2004 and designed by Helmut Ohley
1846 Mid-western United States, released 2005 by Deep Thought Games, LLC, designed by Thomas Lehmann
1847 Germany-Pfalz, self-published in 1996 by Wolfram Janich
1849 Sicily, released 1998 by Chris Lawson, designed by Federico Vellani
1850 Mid-western United States, released 2006 by Deep Thought Games, LLC, designed by Bill Dixon
1851 Tennessee, released 1998 by Chris Lawson, designed by Mark Derrick and Chris Lawson
1853 India, released 1989 by Hartland Trefoil, designed by Francis Tresham
1854 Austria, designed and released 2002 by Lonny Orgler, re-released 2004 by Deep Thought Games, LLC
1856 Canada, released 1995, designed by Bill Dixon and published by Mayfair Games
1860 Isle of Wight, released 2004 by JKLM Games, designed by Mike Hutton
1861 Russia, released by JKLM Games and Lookout Games, designed by Ian D. Wilson
1862 United States, self-published in 2000 by Helmut Ohley
1870 Mississippi Valley, United States, released 1995, designed by Bill Dixon and published by Mayfair Games
1889 Shikoku Japan, released by Wild Heaven Productions, re-released 2006 by Deep Thought Games, LLC, designed by Yasutaka Ikeda
1890 Osaka Japan, released 1999 by Nobuhiro Izumi, designed by Shin-ichi Takasaki
1895 Namibia, released 2005, designed by Helmut Ohley and Adam Romoth
1898 France, self-published in 1999 by Michael Brünker
1899 China and Korea, released by Chris Lawson, designed by Dirk Clemens and Ingo Meyer
18AL Alabama United States, designed and published in 1999 by Mark Derrick. Republished in 2002 by John David Galt.
18C2C United States, released 2003 by Designs in Creative Entertainment, designed by Mark Frazier.
18EU Europe, released 2004 by Deep Thought Games, LLC, designed by David G.D. Hecht.
18FL Florida United States, released 2006 by Deep Thought Games, LLC, designed by David G.D. Hecht.
18GA Georgia United States, designed and published in 1998 by Mark Derrick. Republished in 2002 by John David Galt.
18GL Great Lakes area United States, released 2005 by Deep Thought Games, LLC, designed by Gary Mroczka.
18MEX Mexico, released 2005 by Deep Thought Games, LLC, designed by Mark Derrick.
18NL Netherlands, self-published in 2005 by Wolfram Janich.
18Scan Scandinavia, released 2005 by Deep Thought Games, LLC, designed by David G.D. Hecht.
18TN Tennessee/Kentucky, released 2006 by Deep Thought Games, LLC, designed by Mark Derrick.
18VA Virginia United States, released 2004 by Deep Thought Games, LLC, designed by David G.D. Hecht.
2038 Asteroid belt, released 1995 by TimJim Games, designed by Thomas Lehmann and James Hlavaty.
Ur 1830BC Ancient Mesopotamia, released 2001 by Splotter Spellen, designed by Joris Wiersinga and Jeroen Doumen.

Note: The above represent commercial releases of games that use the format, including some produced in limited print runs. There are many other 18XX games released in very limited editions or in kit or downloadable form by individual designers. For further information see Blackwater Station and BoardGameGeek.